I’ve talked about this one for a while. At long last, the right vehicle has come up and I’m heading to Melbourne Friday afternoon to pick up my first ever ute – a Subaru Brumby.

This is it.

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So why a Brumby?

I’ve been looking for one of these for some time. The first utes were developed in Australia and feels like a rite of passage for an Aussie bloke to get one at some stage.

More than that, though, they’re just so incredibly practical. Our Saab 9000 can take a heck of a load in it, but I get sick of vacuuming leaves and twigs out of it (and worrying about the creepy crawlies that might have made a new home under the seats). It’ll be great to just chuck some junk in the back and clean the tray out afterwards without having to worry about damaging the upholstery.

These Subarus have a reputation for being pretty much unbreakable. There are examples for sale right now with well over 300, 400 and even 500,000 kilomoters on them. The only common problem is CV joint failure, which isn’t a problem on this car and should be easy to fix if and when it happens.

And the best part – this one is rust-free, only has 100,000kms on the clock, has air-conditioning and was fitted with power steering! That last one is an extra-special bonus because the Brumby never had power steering.

The unmarked interior…..

The car was owned from new by an older gentleman. He passed away recently and it’s being sold by his son. The Dad fitted power steering because he was older and didn’t like fighting to turn the car any more.

It’s got a new windscreen, too!

The only blemish is a small dent in the tailgate. Other than that, it’s all good!

We’ve got heaps of garden waste stacked in various parts of the yard, and plenty of other rubbish waiting to be cleaned out. This Brumby’s going to be my daily driver and weekend workhorse.

Can’t wait!

The Brumby has both low and high-range four-wheel-drive. It’s powered by a 4 cylinder, 1.8litre, carby boxer engine driven through a four-speed manual transmission. That’s not an inspiring sentence from a driving enthusiast’s point of view, but then that’s why I’ve got the Alfa Romeo GTV6, isn’t it?

This one’s for work and maybe a little bit of play on a muddy day out in the bush

More photos will come in due course.

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Encouraging little Brumby factoid…..

These cars carry some great residual values. They’re all 20 years or older and many of them are still fetching up to a third of their new car price. I’m getting this little red wagon at a decent, but fair price and I’m quite sure it’s still going to be worth every penny IF I go to sell it in a few years from now.